Steering-wheel.



a. T. NEWTON STEERING-WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED APR. ll. 19!!- 1,276,797. Patented Aug. 27, 1918;

Inventor: v

y RICH/mu T NEW TON el ee misses. I

Apgxlieetionfilecl April 12., 15312.

To allggi om it may concem:

I my invention-being to provide a wheel oil because of rattling through vibration, which novel construction which facilitates entry or exit of the driver to or from his seat ecljacent the steering wheel.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1' is a broken plan of a steering wheel in which my invention is embodied in one form; p

' Fig. 2 is. a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Fig. l; It is customary to so place the tlrivers seat with relation to the steering wieel of an automobile, motor boat, aeroplane, etc, that the drivers hands rest easily thereon and for this purpose'it is necessary that the Wheel e quite close to the clriv rs seat-so close in. fact that getting into or out of the it has seat is. a rather awkward matter. already been proposed to pivot the wheehas a whole, upon the steering post that it may swing down somewhat out of: the way. It has also been proposed to mount the wheel upon a bracket so that it is slitlable somewhat out oi the way. Both constructions, however, are objectionable, e

causes excessive Wear, or where the wheel swung down, the knees of the driver are still in the Way-so that it is necessary to force by ,the wheel, or else strmltlle the wheel, and move from position by an awhward sidewise motion. The present eon-- strution avoids both of the (lilllculties 1nen- 'tioned. so for as it is possible to do so, by leaving open all of the available space he tween'the steering post and. the seat to? the driver to move into or out of position.

In the construction "illustrated the steering wheel is shown moon-ted upon the usual p0st;10 by means of a (roller integral with, the" spider arms 12whieh extent! from the collar. 11 to the portion 13 of the hand wheel The letter is iivi-fletl anal cteteprises a seeonrl section 1 hinged st 15 to the spider arms 1 and rife-vised v. 'h dowels l6 tithing" into recesses J in the l so. portion 13 of the wheel to accurately po tion the parole with relation thereto. The swinging section 14:

carries a third spider arm 18 havinga stud 19 aclapteil to take into a, recess in the boss :30 formed on the collar ii. i portion ll is in normal when the rim pos' 'on, thus ofit 1th the collar I, otions l3 and 1e register in the plane. The arm 18 cerrle spring latch which engages a recess 22 in and liohls the sec-- fouling s riggit ens and position t the boss tion in position curing the opere-tion of the car. his seat it only 1y to free the latch 21 by lifting its free end. :23 away from the boss 20 whereupon the section 14; of the hancl wheel may be swung on. the hinges l! in tl cli-ection indicated by dotted lines,

leaving the en between the post 10 and clrivers "fee and. clear. W hen the section 14-, returned to normal position, the steel 1 automatically enters its recess in the boss 20 and the latch into an IQ! the driver to get the wheel up and out r swing it tlown. bet-ween e we? or SlKlQ .1. t may be ii such eocin'acy that there iwecn the parts of the notion relatively inexwheel. Ave and does not in any way lessen the .ty and m; 1 position. I

Various modifieetions of the folding errmgeinents for the wheel to accomplish a. like resul l occur to those skilled in the set without departing whet I .ei: uniting ll lien the drives enters or leaves It is easier to swing e wheel in said hub to the Wheel rim, portion of said spider being rigid with the hub and another portion making joint therewith when the Wheel is in normal position but being freely 5 detachable therefrom, a hinge connection between the fixed spider element and the Wheel rim member supported by the movable spider element, and hitching means for holding said movable spider element" in fixed positionwhen engaged with the hub. 10

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to thisspecification.

RICHARD T. NEWTON. 

